I was so surprised myself that I just had to write about this. I was messing around with my running shoes this week. The pair that I race in, when I noticed something very interesting. The New Balance 890v4 shoes were special ordered for me at a local running store in Atlanta. I need 4E extra-wide shoes which few stores carry on-hand. Once my shoes arrived the store called me to let me know they were in. Susan and I drove back into Atlanta a few days later. I tried the shoes on at the store and ran quickly through the parking lot before buying them. I've probably got about 60 miles on them now. That's not many miles, especially for shoes purchased in June, but I usually never wear my racing shoes to train in. That's what my heavy Asics Cumulus shoes are for. As I looked at the tags on the NB 890v4 shoe tongues I noticed that I had purchased a size 8 shoe for my left foot and a size 8.5 shoe for my right foot. How did that happen?
You can read about my shoe purchase
here.
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| Shoe tongue labels |
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| Left shoe label |
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| right shoe tongue label |
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| The original shoe box |
A side-by-side comparison shows the right shoe is only marginally longer than the left shoe. one (1) centimeter is equal to .3937 inches. The right shoe should be .5cm longer or 26.5cm compared to the 26cm shoe on the left.
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| Side-by-side length comparison |
Clearly there is not much difference between a size 8 and size 8.5 shoe. Additionally, it was only when I looked at the label that I realized they were different. However, I intended to purchase the larger size for a reason. 1) I've already tried wearing a smaller shoe (
Buying the Correct Running Shoe Type and Size) thinking that I'd be able to reduce weight. Now I have a pair of shoes that I've worn once and will eventually donate to someone. 2) Everyone knows that as we run longer distances our feet tend to swell. I've only raced 5Ks so far with these shoes. I suspect that a longer distance race might make my left foot feel restricted. It's all about having the right equipment!
So, what can I take away from this little mishap? I guess I'd better look twice before I head to the cash register.
I called the store and they're going to reorder another pair for me so I'll be able to exchange them in a few days. You can bet that I'll check the labels before I leave.
Thanks for reading.
